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After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

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RNC May Fund Akin Campaign After All

What a shock. As I predicted a few weeks ago, the Republican party money is starting to flow back into Missouri to help the Senate candidacy of Rep. Todd Akin. The National Republican Senatorial Committee, after swearing they would not support his campaign, now says they might do so:

“There is no question that for Missourians who believe we need to stop the reckless Washington spending, rein-in the role of government in people’s lives, and finally focus on growing jobs in this country, that Todd Akin is a far more preferable candidate than liberal Sen. Claire McCaskill,” NRSC executive director Rob Jesmer said. “As with every Republican Senate candidate, we hope Todd Akin wins in November, and we will continue to monitor this race closely in the days ahead.” …

Asked to clarify whether it might spend money on Akin, the committee declined to comment, citing a desire not to broadcast its strategy.

In other words, if their internal polls show he has a chance of winning, they’ll throw some money his way. The RNC and Karl Rove’s Crossroads GPS will almost certainly follow suit.

Propping up Akin might help them win the Senate in the short run, but in the long run it’ll only help to undermine party discipline, which is crumbling to begin with. Throwing Akin under the bus was the right decision, not only morally but also strategically. Now they’re giving that up for a tactical advantage that might not even materialize.

And it’s not going to help woo back female voters, either.

So it’s the same old story: mortgaging the future to fuel present-day indulgence. From that angle, it does kinda fit into their party platform.

“As with every Republican Senate candidate, we hope Todd Akin wins in November, and we will continue to monitor this race closely in the days ahead.”

Translation: ‘Yes, Akin is a SOB, but he’s our SOB. Any GOP candidate winning is good for us*, however we’ll be watching this drop-kick closely to make sure he doesn’t say anything obviously dumb before the election – or we’ll cut off his allowance**!’

Dingo
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* Rich White Old Guys – those uppity broads who vote probably are in the 49% who don’t pay taxes anyway – we don’t need to worry ’bout them! They shouldn’t even be allowed to vote (unless they vote the way their menfolk tell them to). And don’t get me started on those whippersnappers… get off my lawn… durn kids, don’t got no respect… [dozes off]